The Embassies of Bangladesh and India in Tokyo will jointly celebrate 50 years of Bangladesh-India Friendship.  Maitri Diwas or Friendship Day will be celebrated in a befitting manner on Monday.  Read:Thailand eyes FTA; shipping routes with Bangladesh All the preparations and formalities have been completed to make the event a success, said a media release.  Japanese Members of Parliament, high-ranking government officials, along with captains of industry and friends from cultural world, media and social organizations from Japan will participate in the event. 

Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Vikram Kumar Doraiswami has said trade will be potentially a key driver of Bangladesh-India friendship in the future with focus on value addition to products but the environment will remain an important issue to look at.   “We should look at trade and a whole new framework. I believe trade will be potentially a key driver of our friendship in the future,” he said, adding that the two countries need to be futuristic about how to deal with the next generation of issues. High Commissioner Doraiswami made the remarks while delivering a keynote speech at a symposium titled ‘Bangladesh-India Relations: Prognosis for the Future’ which premiered on Thursday night on Facebook. An array of experts from Bangladesh and India – former Ambassador Tariq A. Karim, Director, Institute of South Asian Studies, National University of Singapore Prof C. Raja Mohan, Dhaka University Prof Imtiaz Ahmed, former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Pinak Ranjan Chakravarty, Distinguished Fellow, Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS) President Maj Gen (Retd) A. N. M. Muniruzzaman, CPD Executive Director Dr Fahmida Khatun, Brig. Gen.(Retd.) Shahedul Anam Khan and former Indian Foreign Secretary Krishnan Srinivasan - were brought together for the online symposium to assess the state of relations between the two countries and identify the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead in the effort to take it forward. Renowned scholar-diplomat and adviser on foreign affairs to the last caretaker government Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury chaired the event hosted by the Cosmos Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Cosmos Group. Chairman of Cosmos Foundation Enayetullah Khan delivered the opening remarks at the event. For future trade, High Commissioner Doraiswami laid emphasis on some areas in which Bangladesh could provide India a key base for value addition, including to food production and RMG and textile.